Former Georgian minister of defence Irakli Okruashvili detained
The former minister of defence of Georgia and leader of the opposition party Victorious Georgia Irakli Okruashvili has been detained by police.
He has been accused of calling on protesters outside the parliament building on June 20 to break into the building and incitement to violence.
“During the violent assault on the parliament building, Irakli Okruashvili, along with his party, called on the protesters and tried to break into the parliament building by force. Irakli Okruashvili also participated in various acts of group violence”, said Mamuka Chelidze, acting director of the department of central criminal police of the Georgian Interior Ministry.
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A few days earlier, Okruashvili claimed he had documents confirming that he is the true owner of the television channel Rustavi 2, which was recently transferred into the ownership of one of its initial owners, Kibar Khalvashi.
The events of June 20-21
Thousands of people gathered at rallies in Tbilisi on June 20, after Russian communist MP Sergei Gavrilov spoke at the Georgian parliament sitting in the chair of the Georgian parliament. Gavrilov was taking part in a session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, which was being held in the hall of parliament.
The opposition and public demanded explanations from the Georgian authorities as to why the Russian MP, who does not recognize the territorial integrity of Georgia, was given the chance to speak from the high tribune of the country.
Several opposition politicians called on protesters to enter the parliament building. There was a fight with the police, after which the special forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
Law enforcement officials detained 11 protesters on for ‘participation in group violence.’ To date.
Earlier, the same accusation was brought against Nika Melia, a member of the Georgian Parliament from the former ruling United National Movement party.
Parliament stripped Melia of his MP status and immunity, but he was released on bail on the condition that he wear a special electronic tracking bracelet. He has also been forbidden from leaving his home without warning law enforcement.
On July 23, Irakli Okruashvili was questioned in connection with the events of July 20-21. If convicted, he faces a prison term of four to six years.
“Okruashvili is a political prisoner”
Okruashvili’s associates and party co-members, in addition to the opposition, say that his detention is politically motivated.
“Okruashvili is a political prisoner. Ivanishvili clearly has a mental disorder. Plus, he is the ward of Putin and his homework is to destroy the political opposition and transfer Georgia to Russia. Why did he start with Okruashvili? Because he didn’t like the latest statements of Okruashvili about Rustavi 2”. said Okruashvili’s associate, Gubaz Sanikidze.
Litigation that lasted for almost four years around Rustavi 2 ended on July 18 with the defeat of the owners who have owned the TV company for the last few years. Under them, the channel was very critical of the current Georgian authorities.
Since July 18, after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights which ruled that the decision of the Georgian courts in the case of the Rustavi 2 TV company did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights, the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia came into force, according to which Kibar Khalvashi, was returned ownership of the TV company, which he owned in 2004-2006.
Khalvashi is a businessman close to the authorities, who changed the director of the TV channel on the very first day and most likely will change the opposition editorial policy of the channel in favor of the ruling Georgian Dream.
Irakli Okruashvili soon appeared on the scene, claiming that a document exists between him and Kibar Khalvashi, according to which Khalvashi is only the nominal owner of Rustavi 2, while in fact the television company belongs to him.
According to Okruashvili, this document was drawn up in Berlin in 2010 and it is signed by Khalvashi, confirmed by three expert opinions, including an expert of the Paris Court of Appeal.
Khalvashi denies the existence of such a document and says that it is a falsification.
In one of his recent interviews, Okruashvili sharply criticized the situation in the country and personally criticized the informal leader of the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili:
“Everything is getting worse and worse in the country. This Ivanishvili personally ordered the dispersal of the peaceful rally on June 20. I returned to politics for the sole reason – I will drink tea from his glass, I promise him”, Okruashvili said in one of his last interviews.
The phrase ‘drink tea from his glass’ is a reference to Mikheil Saakashvili, former president of Georgia, who burst into parliament and drank tea from the glass of then-president Eduard Shevardnadze, who’s presidency subsequently ended.
